Jalopnik is saying (for what that's worth...) "The new Smart ForTwo will reach the US in August 2015, but the bigger ForFour will only join the party if there's enough demand to justify the homologation costs."

So, how does smart plan to measure the demand for the forfour? So far they haven't asked anyone I know and the forfour is basically a secret outside the smart community, so exactly how are potential new customers supposed to even be aware they might really want a four seat smart?

Eric, thanks for the feedback. I'm convinced there are some real smart enthusiasts within smart USA, but I'm not so sure about M-B USA. Good to hear the info is getting to Dr. Winkler, but I wish there was a way for her to meet some owners here and get their feedback directly. There's another Midwest smart Rally coming up the first weekend in June in Amana, IA (http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f234/) which would be a perfect opportunity for her to get some first hand feedback (I know this is unlikely...) Do you know if she'll be at the New York Auto Show in April? Hopefully something good will come from all this talk about the forfour - if we imagine it, it will come?

Since the cost of bringing the forfour to US spec is one of the major issues in the discussion, I found this interesting.

From Automotive News Europe:

U.S. President Barack Obama said his administration is moving forward with talks on establishing a trade pact between the United States and the European Union.

Automakers are lobbying hard for the pact to end import tariffs and adopt standard safety and environmental regulations.

"The common goal is to ensure that vehicles and their components could be imported and exported without unnecessary burdens and costs," ACEA said in a statement on March 11.

The United States has a 2.5 percent tariff on European-made passenger vehicles and the EU has a 10 percent tariff on American-made passenger vehicles, automaker associations say. Regulatory differences between the markets are equal to an added tariff of 26 percent, automaker associations say.

Eliminating some barriers and all tariffs would boost EU auto exports to the United States by 71 percent to 149 percent and U.S. exports to the EU by 207 percent to 347 percent by 2027, the groups say.

It would have been less costly if smart had engineered the car for U.S. sales from the start. That they didn't is a sign the car has never been slated for sale here, but I think that decision can be reversed if enough people start making noise about having it sold in North America.

dennyrex said:

Since the cost of bringing the forfour to US spec is one of the major issues in the discussion, I found this interesting.

From Automotive News Europe:

U.S. President Barack Obama said his administration is moving forward with talks on establishing a trade pact between the United States and the European Union.

Automakers are lobbying hard for the pact to end import tariffs and adopt standard safety and environmental regulations.

"The common goal is to ensure that vehicles and their components could be imported and exported without unnecessary burdens and costs," ACEA said in a statement on March 11.

The United States has a 2.5 percent tariff on European-made passenger vehicles and the EU has a 10 percent tariff on American-made passenger vehicles, automaker associations say. Regulatory differences between the markets are equal to an added tariff of 26 percent, automaker associations say.

Eliminating some barriers and all tariffs would boost EU auto exports to the United States by 71 percent to 149 percent and U.S. exports to the EU by 207 percent to 347 percent by 2027, the groups say.

I'm very curious to hear if anything is being talked about or considered because of this. I wish there was a little more support for this after 10 days, but I'm kind of stuck with word-of-mouth. There aren't exactly a lot of different forums or places to talk about one company that makes one car. Perhaps if something was done about that one car problem... ;)

I just keep pushing this on Facebook and the forums around the Smart Community. I'd love to do something at the NY Auto Show like JWIGHT mentioned.